12 years in prison for dealing OxyContin and pain pills

A Fredericksburg woman who sold at least 40,000 addictive pain pills including OxyContin during years of drug dealing was sentenced Friday to more than 12 years in federal prison for a conspiracy in which she sold outside of department stores, in a gun shop and from the kitchen of her home in a gated community as she babysat her grandchildren, testimony showed.

Donna M. George, 47, of Fredericksburg, twice was caught on video making deals uncovered as part of a massive investigation known as "Operation Cotton Candy" that since 2002 has convicted more than 170 people in cases headed by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Alexandria and the FBI Washington Field Office.

George was sentenced in Alexandria to 148 months and forfeited approximately $390,000 in money and other assets Prosecutors said that George helped produce fake prescriptions between 2002 and 2009 to obtain pills, sometimes fronting money to others to buy them and split the cache. At other times, prosecutors said, she went "doctor shopping" to have prescriptions for unnecessary pain killers filled by multiple physicians.

During her case, George attempted to induce one witness to lie, and, from jail attempted to discourage another's testimony by threatening to reveal embarrassing details if the witness took the stand, prosecutors said.

Prescription narcotics are a huge problem. When I worked as an internist in the Midwest, it seems like everybody was on OxyContin. Unfortunately there's no way to refute one when they say they have pain. Thankfully I am in a specialty now, where I'll never prescribe narcotics again.